Lauralyn Brickhouse in Virginia is doing daily photography in her Little Pretties project...

Why did you decide to do this project? Little Pretties started out as a venue with which to share my analog photos (I still shoot fairly regularly with a Holga 120, a Minolta XG-1, 2 Canon AE-1's, an old Polaroid Sun camera, and a new Polaroid 300 Instant camera - I'm definitely a low-techie when it comes to my photography, haha!), along with the far more abundant Instagram pics. that I've become so addicted to taking with the iPhones that I've had over the years…and although I do still publish longer-winded entries from time to time, lately I've been focussing more on posting the spoils of my first, and second forays into my own 365 project. (My first attempt earlier this year, was abruptly cut short after barely getting off the ground, when I completely tore the ligament that connects my collar bone to my shoulder blade, while rough-housing with my 14 y/o son…my left arm was rendered practically useless for a couple of weeks following the injury - so I produced very few photos, during that time).

Anyway, since launching my most recent 365 Project, I am delighted to report that I've remained dedicated to the daily pursuit of capturing at least one image to share on Little Pretties (I don't always post my 365 pics on the days that they were taken, but I do still snap pictures every single day, and one or a few of them eventually do make it to the blog as documentation of that).

For nearly 3 1/2 years, "Cheap Camera, 10 Second Timer Self-Portraiture" was my biggest photographic push, but after being charged with, and ultimately convicted of two trespassing misdemeanors (I staged my [oftentimes nude] selfpics on private property most of the time - and so getting caught by perturbed property owners was inevitable, I reckon), and then spending a weekend in jail, plus 6 anxiety-riddled months on probation - I decided to take an indefinite break from self-portraiture after my last official shoot, this past November. (I'm planning on coming out of early retirement this upcoming Monday, however - as I have an opportunity to shoot at a drool-worthy location, with one of my all-time favorite photographers, Richmond's own - Jamie Betts!!! - I am SO flippin' excited, it's borderline ridiculous!)

Needless to say, with self-portraiture no longer dominating most of my shooting time, I was able to focus more singularly on taking the non-self-portraiture pictures that I do so love to take, and before too long, I posed myself the challenge of carving out time every day to shoot (be it a panicked 15 minutes, or a decadent 4 hours), in order to seriously pursue a 365 Project…

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Although for years I've gone out with my cameras most every week, sometimes even several times a week - in search of interesting things, people, and places to shoot, there have been glaring lulls in my motivation, and productivity, from time to time (which always caused me to feel horribly disappointed in myself). Honestly though? It wasn't until I jumped into my 365 Project, that I actually made photography a real priority, a responsibility of sorts - to make a sincere effort to shoot on the reg., and to capture daily images not only for my own artistic fulfillment - but also for the enjoyment of those kind folks out there, who so graciously follow my "Little Pretties" blog.

I like that the 365 Project puts (a tolerable amount of) pressure on me, to not become complacent or lackadaisical about my photography. I also like that my eyes are open wider, and I've developed a more finely tuned radar, that allows me to hone in on subject matter to shoot, in places where I would've previously never even bothered to look (like say, in a grocery store parking lot, late in the evening, when I realize that I've forgotten to take that day's pics., and I still have yet to buy the groceries, pick my daughter up from dance, go home, make dinner, clean the kitchen, do laundry, etc…!!! Aw Crap!) I like that, even when all of the pictures that I've taken on a particular day - literally suck - I'm forced to put my inordinately large ego aside, and pick out something to post, anyway…even if I absolutely hate it (very humbling). I like getting to know intimately, nearby places that I've seen a million times before, but barely paid attention to - in my oftentimes desperate hunt for something local to shoot, in the short periods of time that my schedule (and my kids' schedules) allow(s). And I like it when people shoot me strange looks, mean looks even - when they see me taking pictures of stuff that I'm to presume they think is pretty stupid subject matter…like early morning sunlight illuminating a piece of trash hung up in the branches of a tree growing on the side of a busy highway…I actually LIKE it when they look at me as if I'm NUTS!